And for those who'd like to hear some of the erhu's Japanese cousin, the kokyu, click on the fuzzy little white dots at the left of the text. posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:18 PM on July 28, 2007
Youtube is a great tool for beginning fiddlers. Unlike classical violin, you have to see a fiddler play in order to pick up the nuances of style. How fiddlers bow, how they hold the fiddle, how they use their noting fingers, all of this has to be seen to be learned. I actually have been asked to teach classically trained violinists how to break out of their training in order to stop sounding "classical" in order for them to play in various fiddle styles. Youtube makes that a lot easier. Cases in point:
Tommy Jarrell. The late master fiddler from Toast, North Carolina, whose "Round Peak" style became the default mode for the New York old-time fiddle scene.
Canray Fontenot, creole-cajun fiddler who passed away a few years ago. Extreme Lousiana Creole Funk Tradition.
The Kemenche or Pontic Lyra is the old Black Sea Byzantine fiddle still played by Black Sea Greeks, Turks, and Laz ethnic groups around the eastern Black Sea.
Hutsuls from the western Ukraine play wild fiddle... this is Ivan Popovich from Tyaciv.
If you haven't heard them, then run, do not walk, to get a Cd from the Warsaw Village Band.
Oops... I almost forgot the fiddlers in the Val De Resia... Slovene dialect speakers in Northeast Italy. About a thousand people speak Resiani in this one high Alpine valley. about a hundred of them can play fiddle. posted by zaelic at 4:40 AM on July 29, 2007
Thanks for that tour zaelic; I'll be checking all those links out. posted by Abiezer at 4:47 AM on July 29, 2007
Hey Zaelic - what's the difference between the vioara cu goarne and a Stroh violin? posted by Baby_Balrog at 5:43 AM on July 29, 2007
Baby Balrog: not very much. Strohs were made around the early 1900s in an attempt to make the violin louder, more directional, and thus easier to record on early gramphone recording technology - before the invention of the electric microphone musicians would be placed in front of a huge horn which served to amplify the sounds going into the recording device. Violins were very weak, and so the strohgs were invented. There is a company making them in Thailand, but they are made out of aluminum and aren't much to write home about.
After World War I Romania's economy was booming, and a lot of emmigrants returned home. Supposedly one group of Romanians from North Dakota came home with a stroh, and since then local craftsmen have been making copies that have divereged a lot from the original stroh, and are a lot louder. (Warning: Gratuitous blog self link.) The Romanian term is Bihor dialect for "Violin with a Horn." posted by zaelic at 5:57 AM on July 29, 2007 [1 favorite]
Sweet - thanks! My next instrument purchase is going to be a Stroh - or perhaps a vioara cu goarne if I can find one for sale. Traveling to Europe soon - will be stopping through Scandinavia in an attempt to find a good Hardinger but maybe I should make a jaunt through Romania as well. posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:02 AM on July 29, 2007
posted by jonson at 7:12 AM on July 28, 2007